Rising from Failure and Learning from Success: The Role of Past Experience in Radical Initiative Taking

Dirk Deichmann () and Jan van den Ende ()
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Dirk Deichmann: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jan van den Ende: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Organization Science, 2014, vol. 25, issue 3, 670-690

Abstract: We investigate how the successes and failures of people who initiate radical ideas influence (a) the inclination to take new personal initiatives and (b) the outcome of those initiatives. Using the data of 1,792 radical ideas suggested by 908 employees in a multinational firm’s idea and innovation program, we unexpectedly find that failures, rather than successes, of initiators increase the likelihood of repeat initiative taking. We confirm our hypothesis that involving initiators with prior success in initiative taking has a positive effect on the outcome of a subsequent radical initiative. Our findings illustrate how learning unfolds in the context of radical initiatives and provide insights into how managers can support continuous and superior radical initiative taking.

Keywords: initiative taking; radical ideas; learning; innovation; idea management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:3:p:670-690

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